100 Gulden

The Bank in St. Gallen was one of several cantonal and private note-issuing institutions that proliferated in Switzerland before the Federal Banking Act of 1881 consolidated and eventually eliminated their right of issue. In the 1830s, Swiss private banknote circulation was essentially unregulated at the federal level — each canton handled its own arrangements, and a 100 Gulden denomination would have represented a substantial sum, aimed at commercial rather than retail use.

The Gulden was already an awkward unit by 1838, with the Swiss franc gaining ground as the preferred accounting currency in many cantons. Notes denominated in Gulden from this period often had short practical lives before redenomination rendered them obsolete.